Historical Primary Sources Databases

Please note that this is a combined search for The Times, Sunday Times , and 17th-18th Century Burney Collection. Each of them are also searchable separately though the links below.

Newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) representing the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media.
Help Video: Searching the Burney Collection (by WCU student Alexa Mastella)
For a combined search with other British newspapers, see British Newspapers Search
(Gale Cengage)

Complete digital edition of The Times (London), searchable by keyword, with views of either an article or the complete page. Includes all articles as well as advertisements and illustrations/photos.
For a combined search with other British newspapers, see British Newspapers Search
(Gale Cengage)

Find first-hand reports of world events, British explorers, business, crime, fashion, theatre and more! Full page images and illustrations.
For a combined search with other British newspapers, see British Newspapers Search
(Gale)

Rare journals printed between 1685 and 1835 covering all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life including colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, the French and American revolutions, reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe, political debates, and London coffee house gossip and discussion.
(Adam Matthew)

Full-text digitized collections from the RLUK (Research Libraries UK), including the Hume Tracts, Cowen Tracts on issues of the 1840s to 1880s, Wilson Anti-Slavery Collection & more. The word pamphlet may be misleading. While some of the materials are quite short, many others are very substantial, as long as one or more book chapters.

Portal to a suite of collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew - the UK government's official archive covering the history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries from the British state’s point of view. Includes: Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980; Confidential Print: Africa, 1834-1966; Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969; Confidential Print: Middle East, 1839-1969; Confidential Print: North America, 1824-1961; Foreign Office Files for China, 1919-1980; Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 1947-1980; Foreign Office Files for Japan, 1919-1952; Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971-1981; Macmillan Cabinet Papers, 1957-1963; The Nixon Years, 1969-1974; Women in The National Archives
(Adam Matthew)

Index of books, periodicals, official documents, newspapers and archives from the 19th century. Please note: C19 is an index of several other indices, but provides only citations to sources, not access to the full text of them.

Early English Books (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700.
(Chadwyck-Healey/ProQuest)

Search the full-text of digital images for a wide range of books published from 1701-1800 in the fields of history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, science and more.
(Gale Cengage)

Global resources from the 15th century to the second half of the 20th century including exploration journals and logs, letter books and correspondence, periodicals, official government papers, missionary papers, travel writing, slave papers, memoirs, fiction, children’s adventure stories, traditional folk tales, exhibition catalogues and guides, maps, and marketing posters.
(Adam Matthew)

Multiple perspectives on the history of injury, treatment and disease on the front line that charts scientific advances through hospital records, medical reports and first-hand accounts. Covers 1850-1949. Best coverage is of the Crimean War, American Civil War, First World War, and Second World War. Other wars with some coverage are the Boer Wars, Spanish-American War and the Spanish Civil War.

Migration to New Worlds explores the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia. Split across two modules, and including collections from 26 archives, libraries and museums, Migration to New Worlds brings together the movement and memories of millions across two centuries of mass migration.

- Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange
- British Politics and Society
- British Theatre, Music & Literature: High & Popular Culture
- Children's Literature and Childhood
- European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection
(Gale)

Primary and secondary source materials on the topics of slavery, abolition and social justice from 1490-2007. Includes including an interactive map, scholarly essays, tutorials, a visual sources gallery, chronology and bibliography.
(Adam Matthew Digital)

Original British source material from a gendered perspective in history, literature, sociology and education.
(Adam Matthew)

A unique archive of almost every play submitted for license between 1737 and 1824, and hundreds of documents that provide social context for the plays.
(Adam Matthew)

Primary sources covering the First World War.
(Adam Matthew)

Primary sources documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present covering women's suffrage, the feminist movement, the men’s movement, employment, education, the body, the family, and government and politics.
(Adam Matthew)

Accounts of English travel abroad from 1550-1850, highlighting the influence of continental travel on British art, architecture, urban planning, literature and philosophy. Also covers daily life in the eighteenth century, including everyday issues as transportation, money, communications, food and drink, health and sex. The material also covers European political and religious life, British diplomacy; life at court, and social customs on the Continent, and is an invaluable resource for the study of Europe’s urban spaces.
(Adam Matthew)

An in-depth look at the evolution of British and American working class tourism from 1850 to 1980 covering a broad overview of the destinations unlocked for the average traveler throughout this period, along with specific case studies on pivotal geographical areas, organizations, subjects and travel agencies important for the history of tourism.
(Adam Matthew)

Resources and rare documents from 1554 to the 21st century for understanding the workings of the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright provisions and the history of bookbinding.
(Adam Matthew)

Contains color digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 18th, 19th and early 20th century London.
(Adam Matthew)

Original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organization, as well as printed publications, photographs and interactive features that study the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain from 1937 until the mid-1950s.
(Adam Matthew)

The Paston, Stonor, Cely, Plumpton and Armburgh Papers from 15th century England which show medieval family, business, relationships, trade, politics and community.
(Adam Matthew)

Explores the dynamic period of social, political and cultural change between 1950 and 1975 through color images of manuscripts and rare printed material as well as photographs, ephemera and memorabilia.
(Adam Matthew)

Travel diaries written by 19th and 20th century American women covering a wide range of topics. Majority of travels were within the United States or to Great Britain, Europe, or East Asia. A few women traveled more broadly, visiting locations in Africa, India, the Middle East, and/or Central or South America.

Collection of materials representing popular culture during the Victorian era. Includes: spiritualism & magic; circuses, sideshows & freaks; music halls, theatre, & popular entertainment; and moving pictures.
(Adam Matthew)